Alaska Airlines Implements New Ground Air Units, Retrofits 737s With Winglets to Conserve Fuel and Reduce Emissions
30 Giugno 2008 - 3:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
SEATTLE, June 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alaska Airlines
announced today it is now using mobile ground-based air units for
cabin venting, cooling and heat on parked aircraft at nearly all
its gates at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The airline also
announced it has retrofitted all its 737s capable of using blended
winglets. The two projects are the latest in a series of ongoing
initiatives by the carrier to conserve fuel and reduce carbon
emissions. Since 2002, these efforts have reduced the amount of
fuel Alaska Airlines uses to transport one passenger one mile by 17
percent. The accompanying reduction in carbon dioxide emissions is
equivalent to taking 130,000 cars off the road for one year. The
diesel-powered preconditioned air units, along with ground-based
electrical power, replace the use of an aircraft's onboard
auxiliary power unit (APU), which runs on jet fuel. The
ground-based units burn about 10 times less fuel than APUs, meaning
the new units will significantly reduce costs and benefit the
environment by lowering carbon emissions. At Sea-Tac Airport, the
use of preconditioned air units at 19 gates is expected to conserve
more than 1.1 million gallons of fuel per year, saving the company
$2.6 million annually based on the current pump price, said Kristin
Fuson, an Alaska Airlines flight operations engineer and the
project manager. Although the units burn diesel fuel, carbon
dioxide emissions will be reduced by 24 million pounds a year
because of dramatically less fuel burn, Fuson said. Annual savings
will more than double to 2.4 million gallons of fuel and $5.5
million once the units are in place at Alaska Airlines' other hubs
in Anchorage, LAX, Portland and San Francisco later in the year.
Alaska Airlines had been moving toward using ground-based air units
for about two years. The units make even better economic sense with
oil prices hovering around $135 a barrel, Fuson said. The airline
has purchased or leased 33 mobile air units for the five hub
airports. Even with the initial cost of $65,000 per unit, the
machines pay for themselves in about 11/2 years, Fuson said. If the
project is successful, more units will be purchased for other
airports. Starting in September, some fixed units will be installed
at all the hubs. The fixed units are powered by electricity from
the airports and do not burn fuel or produce emissions. Earlier
this month, Alaska Airlines also completed retrofitting all its
existing 737s capable of using blended winglets. All new aircraft
are delivered with blended winglets. Winglets improve an aircraft's
fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 3
percent -- or some 100,000 gallons a year per aircraft. The
winglets are manufactured by Seattle-based Aviation Partners
Boeing. By the end of this year, Alaska Airlines will be flying 74
Next-Generation 737s with winglets, representing 64 percent of its
116-aircraft fleet. "The gold standard in winglets, our technology
has saved the industry and the world community more than 1 billion
gallons of fuel to date with projected additional fuel savings of
more than 175 million gallons in 2008," said Joe Clark, Aviation
Partners Boeing founder and chairman. "No other airplane
modification will provide the fuel savings and eco-friendly
benefits of our blended winglet technology." Alaska Airlines has
undertaken several other fuel-saving initiatives in the past year.
Among them: -- Speeding up retirement of its MD-80s to fly only
fuel-efficient 737s. The airline's remaining seven MD-80s will be
taken out of service Aug. 25 instead of the end of December, as
originally planned. -- Using only one engine when taxiing jets for
maintenance to conserve fuel. -- Employing more satellite-based
navigation. Since 1996, Alaska Airlines has pioneered a technology
called Required Navigation Performance. RNP enables aircraft to fly
more direct routes with pinpoint accuracy and reduce diversions due
to weather by using onboard navigation technology and the Global
Positioning System satellite network. The airline uses RNP at
remote and geographically challenging airports throughout the state
of Alaska, as well as in Portland, Ore.; San Francisco; Palm
Springs, Calif.; and at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.
-- Using lighter-weight catering carts. Since retrofitting all of
its aircraft with lighter-weight carts in September 2006, the
airline has saved nearly 300,000 gallons of fuel annually. Alaska
Airlines and Horizon Air together serve 94 cities through an
expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and
Mexico. For reservations, visit http://alaskaair.com/. For more
news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air
Newsroom at http://alaskaair.com/newsroom. DATASOURCE: Alaska
Airlines CONTACT: Paul McElroy, +1-206-392-5101, or Marianne
Lindsey, +1-206-383-4057, both of Alaska Airlines Web site:
http://www.alaskaair.com/
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